biden's senate office and later as a member of the obama-biden transition team and is currently the president of a bipartisan public affairs company. thanks for coming on tonight. we have to start with the breaking news, your reaction to the death of nelson mandela. >> at this moment in washington, we are talking a lot about leadership. you look at his qualities as a leader, perseverance, determination, the gratitude, the forgiveness. these are attributes that are so compelling and to have them reside in one man over 95 years is just extraordinary. absolutely extraordinary. >> why are they missing in present-day washington? >> boy. it's an unfair mark to compare anyone to nelson. he is just in such a different league. one can certainly help as world leaders travel for the funeral that they have time to reflect and think about his qualities and what made him so remarkable over such a long time. >> let's talk about present day. the obama administration warning about the lapse in unemployment benefits saying it may cost as many as 240,000 jobs but there's another side to the argument.